Predator
by Chinagirl18
Summary: When the SVU gang finds a 10 year old boy completely skinned with "LUNCH" on his arm, they must track down this monster before it comes hunting for more than the detectives can handle. Rated very M for graphics...ON HOLD.
1. Epilogue: The Discovery

**Hello everybody! Okay, this is Predator, an SVU fanfic. Actually, my first SVU fanfic. Anyway, when i was writing this first part of the preface, i actually got chills! I wonder if I'm going to have nightmares tonight.....0__0 Oh well.**

**Originally, I only had the end part of the preface, where they're finding the body. Someone (_thank you m3lode!_) suggested that I start the story out a different way. Hope you like the new/revised Predator! Read and Review please!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything anything ANYTHING! Dick Wolf and NBC own what I wish I owned. Oh well. *shrugs***

**Enjoy!**

**SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU**

**Prologue**

_He started walking. Walking away from his meal. Away from his prize. He was thirsty now. He was also dirty. _

_He looked up at the sky._

_He had to leave. He had to escape. But only after he did what he had come to do. _

_He dug out his knife from his belt. He leaned over the dead boy that he had earlier become friends with. He leaned over him, using his knife as a shaver cutting way too deep._

_The body had been cold for a couple of hours. The knife started at the stomach, digging in until the man was sure it had gone past the outer skin. He then maneuvered the knife down one side of the boy on the ground. As soon as the knife had reached the toe, the man came back up to the stomach and started going down the other end._

_The sickening sound of the muscles and skin tearing from the body made Central Park seem dark. Cold. Silent. Alone._

_He completed the front side of the boy, although leaving the family jewels in its place. He kicked the boy over onto his stomach. He took his knife again, starting at the top of the shoulders, then moving slowly down the back, down the legs, and off the feet. He repeated this sequence until the boy was completely skinned._

_He stood up. _

_He smiled, satisfied with his work._

_He kicked the lifeless and now skinned body, just enough to make the arm barely visible under it._

_He looked around, checking for anyone who might be roaming the park. No one._

_He smiled again._

_He silently walked over to the nearest bathroom. He washed his hands, clearing them of any signs of blood. He took out his knife, and cleaned that, too._

_He dried his hands. _

_He put the knife back in his belt, then covered it with his shirt._

_He walked away unhurriedly to the parking lot, got in his car, and drove away, smiling._

_"I did this for you."_

**PREDATOR**

"Gross," Detective Olivia Benson said, looking at the body, completely skinned.

M.E. Melinda Warner came up to her side. "Luckily, the boy was already dead. There would have been a lot more blood than this if he was still alive when he was skinned."

"I still think it's gross." Olivia bent down, spotting something on the ground. She picked up what looked like a pill.

Melinda bent down next to her. "That looks like a sleeping pill. My guess is that the perp and the victim knew each other."

Olivia nodded. "They went out to get some pop, the perp somehow got the pills into his drink, the vic felt sleepy, went outside, perp attacked him."

Melinda looked down again, and noticed that something was carved into the boy's body. With gloves on hands, she lightly moved the boy's arm, and found writing on the outer part. LUNCH. Melinda breathed deeply, not expecting something like this.

"Ohmigod," Olivia said, turning around. She covered her mouth. "That is sick."

"What do you think it means?" asked Detective Elliot Stabler, coming up behind Olivia.

"It means that a sick bastard had a good time tasting this body and ripping him limb from limb," Melinda said.

"Unless," Olivia said, "he's keeping it as a trophy."

**SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU**

**Ta-da! That has concluded the first part of my (hopefully) soon-to-be story. Hope you liked it and want me to continue with it! If you do, review!**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed previously. Now i guess you have another chance to critique me. **

**(P.S. If anyone has any suggestions how to continue this story, please state them in your reviews. If i don't get any reviews, then it might be a while until my next chapter comes out. So....think about that.)**

**(P.P.S. Currently, I have almost finished coming up with the storyline. So, now, I just have to type it up with some more imagination clicks.)**

**-Chinagirl18**


	2. Chapter 1: Responsibilities

**AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Hi everyone!!! I am so so so so so SOOOOO sorry for this looooooong wait that y'all had to endure. I was busy brainstorming new chapters/stories. **

**NOTICE: I have added/changed some minor (but important) things in the prologue of this story. It won't take long to look at, but it will be important for farther into the story.**

**Please please PLEASE read this chapter, and again I am SOOOO sorry for the wait!**

**P.S. None of the schools that I name exist (that I know of). I jut created them because I don't know what schools there are.**

**R & R! ;D**

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**Chapter 1: Responsibilities**

Cragen, Munch, Fin, Olivia and Elliot were all sitting in the one six precinct, looking over the evidence that they had.

"Lindsey Oakner. The kid was 10 years old. Lived with his mom and dad, who are both doctors. Mom and Dad have long shifts, which makes Lindsey have to either ride the school bus home or walk. From some of the comments made about this boy, he has been made fun of because of his name. He has been told it makes him, quote unquote, girly."

Olivia interrupted Fin. "How much support do the parents give to this boy? If two hours a night when he was asleep and two hours in the morning was all the attention he got, there is no doubt that he felt abandoned. He could probably go anywhere after school was out, and as long as he came back before 11:00 at night, his parents would never know what happened." Olivia shook her head in disgust. "This boy deserved better care because 1) of his age, and 2) because of all the grief he was getting by classmates."

"What school did this boy go to?" Munch asked.

Fin answered, "Parkwell Middle School."

"Do we know who the parents are?" Cragen asked.

"Yeah. Joe and Doris Oakner."

"Know where they live?"

"Nope. Doesn't say in the school registration."

"Weird. It should be there. Where the student lives is always needed, just in case something were to happen to the child," Elliot explained from his own experience. "The school would also need a phone number to call."

"And that's not in here, either," Fin said.

"Alright, then. Let's go find Lindsey's classroom, classmates, teachers, and hopefully where he lives." Olivia stood up, grabbed another cup of coffee, and walked through the door, while leading the way for Elliot, who was right behind her.

**PREDATOR**

Olivia and Elliot pulled up to Parkwell Middle School. No one was outside.

"Everyone's probably in class now," Elliot suggested.

The two detectives walked up the stone stairs and through the large double doors. Inside was a wide hallway, each with about five doors on each side. Both of the walls were lined with green and white lockers, giving the impression that those were their school colors.

Almost halfway down the right side of the hallway was a break in the wall leading to another hallway. Down each of the long hallways was a green double door in case of an emergency.

The detectives quietly walked down the first hallway, and when they did not find what they were looking for, turned back around and headed down the second hallway, not on their left. Three doors down they spotted the Principal's office and knocked on the door several times until someone opened it.

It was a healthy looking woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, and chestnut colored skin.

"Have you been tanning lately?" Olivia asked. She had little mercy for this woman; who had to know about Lindsey's social problems at school and at home. She was probably also responsible for all of the students' files to be fit and in order. After discovering this information, Olivia did not like this woman at all.

The principal did not seem to mind this comment, even though Elliot gave Olivia a weird look out of the corner of his eye.

"No. I have been blessed with this skin. No need to make it suffer by tanning in the sun and risking skin cancer. No. this is natural for me, and my family."

The woman closed the door behind the detectives and motioned for them to sit down in the two chairs in front of her desk. She smiled. "Hi," she said. "My name is Lucy Parkwell."

"So the school is named after you or your husband?" Elliot asked.

Elliot's enthusiasm and interest in this question made Olivia slightly jealous. Was he attracted to this woman whom they have never met before and whom Olivia disliked with all her might? Not if Olivia had anything to say about it. … But she didn't really say anything. Not until it was absolutely necessary.

Lucy laughed lightly. "No, unfortunately not. I wish it had. It would have been an honor. It was named after my grandfather-in-law. I just make sure everything's in order. My husband owns it right now. He's the one who gave me this job, even though it doesn't pay as well as other jobs would. I just like being around children. We don't have any children of our own yet. We would like to, though."

_Yeah_, Olivia thought. _Me too._

"So, what have you come to tell me? You look official enough to be the police," she said, taking a glance at Elliot. He smiled. Olivia hoped he was just playing along to have a bigger chance of getting more information out of this woman. After all, he was married.

Olivia wanted to answer that question so as to get Lucy's hungry eyes off of her partner. "We are Detectives Benson and Stabler from the Special Victims Unit. We believe that one of your students was murdered in a very graphic way this past Saturday morning.

Lucy's eyes changed to sadness. "Oh, no," she breathed. "Which student do you believe was the one murdered?"

"Lindsey Oakner. Do you remember him?"

"Oh, yes. That poor boy. He was bullied all the time because of his name. it never happened while I was around, though. Friends of Lindsey's would whisper the heads up to me when the bullies and Lindsey were gone. They were afraid they would be teased too."

"We understand that," Elliot said, trying to get Olivia's and Lucy Parkwell's first impressions of each other to not be so negative. Although, he had already given up on trying to change Olivia's mind. When she was stuck on something, she was stuck on something, and it was nearly impossible for her to change her opinion.

"So what did you want me for? Anything specific?" Lucy opened one of her desk drawers to get out Lindsey Oakner's files.

"Yes," Elliot said. "We noticed that Lindsey's file does not contain his address, or his home phone number. If I'm correct, the school should have this information in case of an emergency that would happen to the child."

Lucy looked down. "Yes," she said softly.

"Then why isn't it in his files?"

"I felt sorry for him. If he got harmed, I wanted to bring him to an orphanage which would find him a much better family than he has now. He should not be with those neglectful parents. They shouldn't be considered parents at all."

"But," Olivia said. "It's basically the law. They need this information. The school needs this information. You should know that. It's your responsibility to know all of this."

Lucy started to get tears in her eyes. "I know, I know. I just want to give Lindsey a better home. He doesn't even have siblings that will keep him company when his parents couldn't. I'm sorry. One night I was staying here finishing up some work, and I saw him outside at nearly 9:00 at night, just wandering about around the school. He should not have been here. He should have gone home. Usually, it's pretty safe at the school, but sometimes there are strangers that hang around. They could have gotten to Lindsey. Something could have happened to him."

"Well, one of them could have," Olivia said. "Have any of them seemed to have a fondness for meat?"

"No, not that I've noticed. But how would I know? They usually come here late at night, around 8:30 to even 12:00 at night. I wouldn't stay here that late if I had two months worth of papers to go through."

"Alright," Elliot said, standing up. "Thank you for your help. And if you have any more students that do not have all of their information filled out, they need to fill them out, or we'll be coming back to arrest you for child endangerment."

Lucy nodded solemnly. "Yes. I know. You're welcome."

"I think it would be a good decision if you closed the school for the rest of the day," Olivia said. "For safety reasons."

She nodded.

The detectives stood up and walked out of the Principal's office. As soon as they reached the double doors that they had entered the school through, the intercom overhead first crackled, then spread the voice of the principal throughout the school.

"We have just received some unexpected information," Lucy's voice said. "We will be taking the rest of the day off. The parents will be notified of this sudden change, and if the teachers would please meet me in my office, that would be most welcomed. Thank you and have a nice day." The intercom turned off, followed by the many voices of excited children echoing through the hallways.

**SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU**

**Okay, that was my long awaited chapter that I FINALLY got up. I hope y'all liked it and want me to continue. Please review! They make my day!**

**-Chinagirl18 =)**

**P.S. If you haven't noticed yet, the summary for Predator was changed to I think a much better one than its previous summary.**


	3. Chapter 2: Rejection

**Hey, guys. Sorry I wait so long between updates for this story. This is one of the stories that I'm posting right as I finish it. I think I'm almost done with the third chapter, but I might need to make rearrangements in the chapter. Anyway, I wanna say thanks to everyone who has been reading this chapter through and through, whether from the start or from Chapter 2. Either way, I hope everyone has been liking the story. Thanks for reviewing and adding me to all that stuff that you can. :D R&R!**

**Dislcaimer: I own nothing, but I have won everything that I have needed.**

**SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU**

**Chapter 2: Rejection**

Olivia and Elliot sat in their car for a brief minute. They did not know how they would tell Lindsey's parents the news.

As a parent, Elliot would not have dreamed that he would hear something like this in his life as a parent. He probably could not handle it if he received this kind of news from people he did not know. He would not be able to handle it as some of the parents who they have met had. They were stronger. It would be hard for him to handle anything as drastic as this. And on top of that, learn that their kid was being teased because of his name.

_Who would name their boy Lindsey? Usually, you would only use that name for a girl. But, there are always first times._

A couple seconds later of silence inside the car, Olivia finally got out and looked at Elliot, waiting for him to get out. Slowly he nodded and opened the door, but held it there for a second, then finally stood up and closed it.

He dreaded this moment. He always dreaded it. He dreaded telling the family or friends about their los. But he imagined that it would be easier to find out from the police than from someone who had heard about it secondhand. The police should not be telling others about their findings, but who knows what a person off of the street would be saying. All hell would break loose.

The lights inside the house were out, and there was no motion to be seen.

"Not home?" Olivia asked her partner.

"I don't know. Probably. They have long shifts."

"But wouldn't you think that even with their long shifts they would know if their son was missing, much less a family member that lives with them?"

"You would think that," Elliot said sadly. "But some parents neglect their children so much; they don't know what they're missing."

He paused. Was it just him or did his statement not only apply to others but also to himself? He was getting that vibe, somehow. And unfortunately, it spooked him a little.

Olivia looked at him. "El, you okay?"

"Uh, yeah…yeah."

Olivia nodded wearingly, not completely trusting what she heard, but she started walking towards the house anyway. She rang the door bell and waited for her partner to catch up with her. After a couple of seconds, the door to the house opened. Behind it stood a middle-aged man, maybe around his thirties, sporting a suit and tie.

"Yes?" he asked unknowingly. "May I ask why the police are here?"

Olivia spoke. "We are here concerning a young boy." She lifted out a picture from her pocket and showed it to the man. "Do you mind telling us who this boy is?"

The man was quite for a moment. "No. I don't recognize him."

That answer hit the detectives fast and hard. It was a very clear picture. Not one of the boy dead, but the most recent school picture supplied by the school principal. It could not be mistaken by anyone who knew him, much less his father.

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked him trying not to let her surprise be noticed. "Look at it again."

The man sighed, but looked at it again. But again, he shook his head. "No, I am pretty sure I do not know that boy. I am sorry, though, for him. I assume that something sexually bad must have happened to him?"

Elliot lifted an eyebrow. "Really? Why do you think that?"

"I have heard some things going around the neighborhood. Something about a kid being skinned and eaten? I haven't heard any names, though. So I'm afraid I can't help you."

The fancily dressed man began to close the door, but Elliot halted it with his foot. "And who do you assume we are?"

The man turned back around. "Well, if I know my departments around here, then my conclusion would be that you would be from the Special Victims Unit? Is my assumption correct?"

Olivia squinted at the sun hitting her eyes. "Yes," she answered. "May we have your name?"

"Yours first," he countered.

"Benson," she said motioning to herself. She then motioned to Elliot. "And this is my partner, Detective Stabler."

The man seemed alright with that answer. "Jim Watson."

"Do you live alone, Mr. Watson?" Elliot asked.

"No. I live with my wife, Carolyn Oakner. "

"Oakner? I thought she was your wife."

"She is. But you know how some women are. They don't want to give up their first name that they've had. So they don't change it. They keep it." He paused and eyed Olivia, but didn't say anything.

"Is Mrs. Oakner here right now?" Olivia asked.

"No. And even if she was, I would not allow two detectives with no warning to come barging into my house. Now I'm sorry, but you must leave. I have to get to work."

This time as the door was closing, it was not stopped by a foot in its way. It just kept going until it was finally closed.

The detectives were in disgust and awe of this man who was claiming to not know Lindsey. For God's sake, it was his own son! Would his wife tell them anything if she was there? The detectives would hope so. If not, they were dealing with the rejection of some sick-hearted criminals.

**PREDATOR**

Olivia and Elliot were back at their desks in the stationhouse when the "Big Chief", as Munch had nicknamed him, came storming through the door sand straight toward their desks.

"What is this??" he yelled for everyone to hear. "I thought the detectives here knew quite well that they should not be leaking these stories. They should have already learned from past experience!"

Olivia stood up while the article on the front page was thrown onto Elliot's desk. "We didn't tell anyone anything that is not a part of this investigation," she told the chief.

"Then why is this already in the paper?!" he shouted again.

Olivia opened her mouth to keep saying that it could not have been them who leaked it, but luckily Cragen had heard the chief's arrival from his office and had come out to take care of the situation.

"I assure you that none of my detectives have told anyone not needing to know about this case."

"Well, someone _did_. And you have to take care of it. I cannot keep ignoring when this happens! This cannot keep happening! So take care of it, or your detectives are off the case!" The chief walked angrily out of the Special Victims Unit, clearly not having a good day.

Once he was gone and out of earshot, Cragen spoke, motioning towards Olivia and Elliot, "You two. My office. Now." He turned around and went inside his office, closing the door and waited until Olivia and Elliot came in.

As the two got up and left, Elliot tossed the paper onto Munch's desk. He looked at it.

_MAN-EATER IN MANHATTEN_ was in big bold letters. It was also on the front page; in clear view. Underneath was: _Boy in park found completely skinned; LUNCH found carved in his arm. Is there a cannibal in the city?_

Fin looked over onto Munch's desk, and what came out was: "Damn."

**PREDATOR**

"Did either of you two leak _anything_ about this investigation?" Cragen sternly asked his two best detectives.

"No," Olivia said while Elliot shook his head, indicating the same thing. "We haven't leaked anything out about this case to anyone who doesn't need to know anything. Nothing."

Cragen nodded. "What about Munch or Fin? Did they have a chance to leak the story?"

"Well of course they had the _chance_ to, Cap," Elliot explained, "but they wouldn't leak the story if they were given a hundred dollars."

Cragen nodded again.

"You've got to trust us, Captain," Olivia pleaded.

"I do," Cragen replied.

There was silence for a few seconds, then, "Who do you think did it?"

They were all silent, then Olivia shrugged. "Either someone who found all the details from the inside leaked it, or someone was at the scene and did nothing about it."

**SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! **

**You know what I'm going to say, right?**

**...**

**Reviews are much welcomed! :D**

**-Chinagirl18**


	4. Chapter 3: Basket of Goodies

**Hey, there! How is everybody? Sorry for the long wait. I've been trying to fit everything in my life in & trying to spread out my stories so I update them equally-ish. This is the last chapter that I have already done, so this next one might take me a while. Just a heads-up. R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing on this site except for my name & plots & whatever. :)**

**SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU**

**Chapter 3: Basket of Goodies**

"You know what?" Olivia asked Elliot. They were sitting across from each other at their desks in the SVU. It was almost 11:30am. "I'm getting kind of hungry. How 'bout you?"

"Not right now," Elliot replied. He was in the mood to focus on the papers in front of him. "I just want to give this boy some justice; from his killer, but also from his neglectful parents."

Olivia sat there for a second. She agreed with her partner. She did not like these parents. They may be biological parents, but they are not parents. "Okay. I'm going to go out. You're welcome to join me if you want. I'll be leaving in about ten minutes."

Elliot didn't say anything in return.

"Neither of you are going anywhere right now," Cragen's voice stormed, following by his body storming out. "You might not want to eat for a while either. They found another body; courtesy of Mr. Cannibal."

**PREDATOR**

"Patty Winkard," Munch said as Elliot and Olivia joined him at the scene. There was a body covered by plastic, and blood had soaked into the dirt. "She's seven years old. Has a brother, mother, stepfather. Already talked to the parents, said that she wasn't much of a socialite; not many friends. And all of her previous friends had moved away, leaving the only way of contacting each other by email, snail mail, technology, or phone." He looked down at the covered figure. "Fully skinned, but genitals seemed to be untouched."

"That's brutal," Olivia said disbelievingly. "Maybe overkill, even for a cannibal. Not that I wanted this girl to die, but couldn't this guy find a less hurtful way for her to die? She didn't deserve to die like this. _None_ of these kids deserved to die at _all_."

"Yeah, and guess what?" Warner said, coming up to the detectives. "She's missing her right ear, her right pointer finger, left ring finger, and left thumb. They haven't been found. We think that the killer is keeping them…"

"As trophies," Elliot finished. "Figures. Was there anything carved into her like the last victim?"

"Yes."

"What is it this time?"

"This time it's BREAKFAST. The body's cold; been here for a while without anyone coming upon it."

"Either that," Munch intervened, "or the guy didn't feel like putting BRUNCH as one of his markings."

No one commented. Munch was trying to lighten the mood; he was always trying to lighten the mood. But sometimes it didn't work. Sometimes it was just the wrong time.

"So do we still think that we are going to get a LUNCH from this guy today?" Elliot asked.

Everyone shrugged their shoulders, but everyone was hoping that they wouldn't have to add LUNCH to their menu.

**PREDATOR**

"You still hungry?" Elliot asked Olivia.

They were driving in the part of the city where the best and most popular restaurants and stops were.

"No." Plain and simple.

Elliot really was not that hungry either; not after seeing what their perp had left behind. No one could maintain their appetite after seeing the dead, skinned, and cut up bodies on the ground. "Okay."

A couple of silence moments before Olivia spoke, "I think we should head back to the precinct. Just in case anything new has been found."

"Yeah," Elliot agreed. As soon as they turned around the next corner, they were heading back to the stationhouse.

**PREDATOR**

"Delivery for Captain Donald Cragen," a mailman stated, standing at the front door at the 16 precinct. A lingering policeman took the box, thanked the deliverer, paid him, and gave the package to Olivia and Elliot who were just walking through the door.

"What's this?" Elliot asked the man.

"A package for Don Cragen. He works with you, right?"

"Yeah," Olivia said. "Thanks."

The policeman nodded and went on his way as the two SVU detectives made their way to their floor. They gave the package to Cragen who was sitting in his office.

"Cap, got a package for ya."

Cragen took out his pocketknife and slowly sliced the top of the box open. Immediately, the pungent smell of blood filled the office. Olivia and Elliot quickly backed out of the office, holding their breaths. Cragen held his breath as he quickly cut open the rest of the box. As he flipped the wings open, he quickly grabbed a tissue and used it to take a white envelope out. He had to leave his office and close the door; the smell had already wafted through the room enough.

"What was that?" Fin asked, coming up beside Olivia who still did not feel like taking a big gulp of air at that moment.

"Blood and body parts. Plastic was put on the bottom of the box to prevent the blood and water from soaking through the bottom. And a card came inside it."

All of the detectives' eyes traveled to the unopened and bloody card stuck between two tissues that were in Cragen's hand. No one dared to ask what it said inside.

Cragen knew what his detectives were thinking. He slowly opened the envelope and took the card out. Flipping it open, his eyes turned into a look of horror. He did not want to read it; he did not want to speak the words on the card aloud. Instead he got four more tissues and piled them on each other like a platform. He set the blood covered card onto the platform, making sure that the card stayed open while his detectives walked over to the pile. Because the card was almost drenched with light blood, it was plastered to the surface of the tissues and stayed open.

Olivia, Elliot, Fin, and Munch warily bent over the card to see what it said. Unfortunately, the card was typed up, so the detectives could not find the perp through their handwriting.

_Hello, detectives. If you have found this card, then you must have found the box delivered to you. _

_It must have been a surprise to find this waiting for its delivery to you, Captain Cragen. But you see, I don't really care what surprises you. I'm just glad you got your gift. _

_I suspect that two of your detectives are hungry, no? Please tell them that they are welcome to feast upon my delivery. And please, Detectives Benson and Stabler, eat as much as you please. If you want seconds, just tell me and you will get them right away with no shipping fee required. It would be my treat to you._

_You will come upon what I have done soon, no fear. _

_Enjoy the basket of goodies for me, please. You are lucky, you know. Normally I would never share my accomplishments with others. But you, the SVU detectives, deserve to see exactly what you're chasing._

_I wish you bloody luck._

He had left his signature at the bottom of the letter. It was a fingerprint.

**SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU**

**Okaaay. Whataya think of this chapter? Tell me what you think in your reviews. I'm very interested in what you guys are thinking.**

**Reviews are awesome!**

**-Chinagirl18**

**P.S. Academy Awards tonight. Mick Betancourt said that Mariska's going to be there. Watch for her! (Sorry. No idea what the dress looks like.) :D**


	5. Chapter 4: Tricks

***sigh* Hey, everybody. I'm sooooooo sorry for the biggest wait in the history of fanfic waiting. 8th grade, getting ready for high school, a busy busy summer. To everyone who is reading this now, thank you so much for staying with the story. I'll try to update more of this particular story. Again, so sorry for the long wait! **

**Well, 6 days until my freshman year of high school starts! I had 3 book reports to do, and 2 of them are basically done. If you haven't read _The Secret Life of Bees_, _The House on Mango Street_, or _A Separate Peace_, I highly recommend them. But they are YA books and there is language and certain situations, so judge your decision on that. Anyway, begin the reading! **

**Disclaimer: Does disclaimer ever reduce your happy mood at a time like this. It does to me.**

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**Chapter 4: Tricks**

"Get this fingerprint run!" Cragen ordered. "Now! Only examine the bloody fingerprint."

Morales nodded and took the letter with his gloved hands. As Cragen left the lab, Morales carefully laid the bloody letter on a table. He took scissors and cut out the small square that had the fingerprint on it, and then laid it under a microscope. He adjusted the magnification and got a clean view of the fingerprint. It was somewhat smudged, but it could still be identified. He was able to identify the fingerprint of being the right middle finger. The fingerprint type was a double loop whorl, a whorl consisting of two separate and distinct loop formations with two separate and distinct shoulders for each core. That particular type was rare, meaning that it would be easier to pinpoint the guy.

Morales then scanned the fingerprint into the computer. After a series of buttons were pushed, the computer screen was zipping through faces and fingerprints to identify the bloody fingerprint with. An identity finally popped onto the screen, and it made Morales cringe in disgust.

**PREDATOR**

"There was no return address on the box," Cragen stated.

"Is there anything else we can look to for some evidence?" asked Olivia.

As if on cue, Elliot's phone on his desk rang. He picked it up, listening. As the rest of the squad watched him, his expression dropped into sadness and disgust. He hung up the phone.

"That was Morales. The test results on the blood and fingerprint came back. Neither of them were the sick bastard's. They were the victim's: Patty Winkard's."

Shaking heads and sighs were heard around his and Olivia's desk.

"Sick son-of-a-bitch," Olivia mumbled.

"I'm sick of this guy's tricks!" Elliot shouted. "Why can't we find this? We have to find him! No one else can get hurt!"

"Elliot, calm down!" Olivia said firmly but soothingly.

He shook his head. "I can't calm down! This guy is preying on little kids."

"It's always the ones with the kids that get us," said Fin.

Elliot seems to have settled down enough to speak in a regular tone. "Captain," he said. "This guy knows us by our names. If he knows that, and that we were hungry, he must be observing us or following us somehow. If he is, he knows I have kids. I've called them a couple times to check in on them. I hope it's alright if I take myself off this case. I need to watch my kids and Kathy."

Cragen nodded, understanding his detective's wishes. "Go ahead, Elliot. Keep your family safe, first."

"Thank you, Captain," replied Elliot as he grabbed his jacket, locked his gun in his locker, and looked at Olivia unconsciously for support. She nodded; she understand

She watched him leave in a hurry, eager to get home.

"Do we even know what this guy is hiding in?" shouted Cragen. "I mean, for God's sake, we're detectives here! If we don't know that then we're not doing our job properly!"

The detectives all around were silent. Cases like this pushed on everyone's stress levels.

Cragen sighed. "Everyone go back to work," he said, motioning to all those around him. Then he turned back to the detectives in front of him. "I'm sorry. We just need to get this guy out of the streets so we can at least get an hour's worth of shut-eye."

**PREDATOR**

Elliot returned home. As soon as he opened the door he shouted, "Kathy! Kathleen! Dick! Lizzie!" He didn't want to overreact if nothing had gone amiss, but he also wanted to make sure that this predator wandering the city hadn't gotten too close to his family.

He released some of the air that he was holding inside as he saw Kathy's and Kathleen's blonde heads appear.

"What's wrong, Dad?" asked Kathleen.

"Where's Dickie and Lizzie? And Eli?" asked Elliot.

"Honey, it's okay," Kathy said, trying to calm her husband down. "Eli's at the babysitter's and Dickie and Lizzie are in their rooms."

At this, Dickie and Lizzie walked in and stood by their mother.

"Dad, why are you shouting?" asked Dickie.

Lizzie was looking questioningly at him. Kathy was giving him a scared look, thinking something was seriously wrong.

"Is Olivia okay?" she asked. She knew how important Olivia was to him, and knew how he would be heartbroken if anything happened to her.

"Yeah. Yeah. Olivia's fine. I cut work and came home early. There's a case that's bothering me, but I don't want you guys to get involved. You all are my life. I couldn't stand myself if you were all gone."

"If only Maureen could hear this," came Kathleen. "She always thought you didn't love Mom and us as much as your work."

"What? Why?" asked Elliot.

Kathleen averted her eyes and looked at the wall behind him. "Well, you _did_ divorce Mom. Even if you did come back, it still happened. And your job takes up so much of your time that you don't really give us a second thought. It's always this case, that case, your partner, your other partner, your captain, stuff we don't' really need to know on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes it seems like you spend the majority of your time there…But," she quickly added, "that's not me talking. That's what Maureen said."

"Okay. I'm going to have to talk with her about that. But right now, I need to talk with your mother. So you can go back to whatever you were doing."

"But Mom and I were talking…" Kathleen stated.

Elliot nodded. "She'll be there soon."

His daughter sighed, but didn't protest and led her other siblings away.

Elliot turned to Kathy. He started to talk, but Kathy interrupted.

"I don't want to hear it. Too much blue in the household."

"I know you don't want to hear it, but you need to. It's for your protection. There's a guy…he's killed children. He's still killing children. We think he befriends them, then kills them. The kids seem to be socially withdrawn. That's how he befriends them; he relates to them, then…then…" Elliot stopped, thinking of the horrors he saw. "Just be careful. If anything strange is going on, please call me or someone you know to come over and check it out. We don't know who this guy is, but his tricks and games are sick and twisted."

"And do you have any idea when it will be safe to not be so alert?"

A moment, then, "No. We have no idea what to expect."

"Then does this mean that I have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life?" Kathy asked, throwing her hands up.

"No. He'll be gone by then. I promise. I'm not going to work today, and maybe not until we catch this guy, but I will tell you as soon as possible when he's put away. Okay?"

Kathy sighed. "Okay."

As she started to go back to Kathleen, Elliot asked, "What were you and Kathleen talking about?"

"Elliot!"

"I'm her father. If something's wrong, then she can come to me, too."

Kathy laughed. "No, nothing's wrong. We were talking about stuff. You know, women stuff."

Elliot then felt quite awkward. "Oh."

"Yes, 'oh'. Now go be on guard duty."

**SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU**

**You guys totally deserve a longer chapter, but I've had serious writer's block. Now that I've gotten back into it, hopefully you'll see another chapter soon.**

**Review! I love to see what you guys think!**

**-Chinagirl18**


	6. Chapter 5: Bad Day Good Day

**Hey, everyone! I'm getting this chapter up so much faster than I had planned. And I'm as happy as you are! R&R!**

**P.S. This chapter has some graphics, so if you're easily made queasy, you may want to skip this one.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine...like always...ugh. Anyways, enjoy!**

**SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU**

**Chapter 5: Bad Day/Good Day**

"I hate this place," said seventeen year old Cooper Tomlin. He was sulking and talking to himself while sitting in detention. As he said, he hated this place. He hated it to heck. He didn't make any attempt to learn, he was already failing all his classes by the fourth week, and got a couple detentions each week. He was already the kid the teachers talked about in dread at the teachers' lunch table. No one wanted him in their class. But they couldn't expel him because then their school would lose a great amount of donations. Cooper's parents had a large amount of money. Not as much as Bill Gates, of course, but the family still stood at the top of the donations pyramid. The school couldn't afford to lose the family.

Although, Cooper couldn't care less about this. He hated school. He hated his parents for making him go. The only things that kept him coming and willing to get up in the morning were his car and his girlfriend, Eilma Gifford. She was smart, but wasn't obsessed in getting good grades. She was a good student, but not the best. But the thing that really attracted Cooper to Eilma was her involvement in a small local group called the Hanging Mile, which is a group that helps troubled teens either in group therapy, or separately from the others. Apparently, they were both involved in this and met each other there during the summer. They later discovered they went to the same school.

The second hand finally reached the twelve and the minute hand moved to the six on the wall clock. Cooper practically exploded out of his desk and half-walked half-jogged over to the door, the escape.

"Hold it!" his supervising teacher said firmly, putting his arm in front of the doorway.

Cooper visibly shrugged, sighing. He needed to get out of this hellhole. He looked at the teacher.

"Cooper," the teacher said calmly. "We cannot keep having these two-hour long detentions. I have a family I need to get to and I am sure that you would rather be somewhere else other than here. The only way that that's going to happen is if you study, pay attention in class, and do something productive during school." He looked at his watch, as if testing Cooper's patience.

Cooper still stood there, getting fidgety. "Can I go now?" he asked impatiently.

His teacher sighed. "Yes, Cooper. You may go."

"Thanks," he said, waving and walking out the door. He didn't have a smile on and didn't look at his teacher when leaving. So much for manners.

As he trod out to his car he dug out his cell phone and dialed 375-8328, Eilma's number. It rang five times before Eilma's voicemail answered.

_Hey, this is Eilma_, the recorded message said. _You have reached my voicemail. Sorry I can't pick up right now. You know what to do._

_-beep-_

"Hey, Eilma. It's Coop. I'm calling to know if you wanna get together now? … I'll call back later to ask that same question." Cooper pressed the END button and closed his phone. He passed a couple more cars, probably belonging to students still staying after. He wasn't the _worst_ kid in school.

Putting his cell phone in his pocket, he felt around for his car keys. They weren't where he put them. "Shit." He stopped, thinking that maybe he had left his keys in the classroom. Part of him would rather walk home than go back up to that room. He sighed, knowing three miles was too much for a guy who went to gym class two times a week.

He turned around and walked a few steps, but out of the far corner of his eye, he spotted a man he hadn't seen before sitting in his car, staring at him. It gave him chills. Cooper didn't let the stranger see that he had noticed his presence. He just kept on walking towards the building, hoping that the doors hadn't locked themselves or that a teacher would be on their way out, keeping the door open for him to enter. He kept his hands in his pocket, grasping his phone in one hand, just in case he needed to quick-dial 911. He reached the school doors, tugged at the bars, and the door gloriously opened before him. He walked in, went up the stairs, across the floor, saw his keys in the open room, walked out and back across the floor, back down the stairs, and finally back outside. This only took six minutes. He didn't see the man or the man's car anymore. He felt safer, knowing that the creep was gone.

He walked to his car, pressed the button on his keys to unlock the doors, and was about to open the door when he realized something; did the locks come up or were they already up? He couldn't remember if the doors were locked before he went to retrieve his keys. It was longer than five minutes that he was gone, of when the car should have locked itself.

Cooper pushed the thought away and got inside, closing the door behind him. He put the keys in the ignition and turned.

_Ditditditditditditdit_, the engine sputtered.

He turned the key again.

_Ditditditditditditdit_.

"Come on, car! Start!"

_Ditditditditditditdit_, resisted the engine.

"Shit shit shit," Cooper cursed in disgust of today having to be a bad day. He got out of his car, leaving the door open, and walked in front of the car, lifting the engine cover. "What's wrong with you?" he complained to the inanimate object.

All of a sudden, something shoved him against the car, his head bumping the car engine cover. He was facing away from his assailant, so he couldn't see anything besides dirty engine parts. The last thing Cooper felt was a knife giving a quick, clean slice to his throat, immediately cutting off the airway. His body jolted a couple times, then went limp.

Cooper's killer dragged his body a short ten feet around the corner to the back of the school, leaving a heavy and thick blood trail. The man towering over the lifeless body took out his carving knife and examined his meal, deciding where to start first. The cannibal knelt down on his knees and started on Cooper's stomach, slicing a little too deep for pleasure. But it wasn't for pleasure. It was a meal; it was for survival.

At least, that's what he planned to say to the cops if he was caught, adding on the tidbit claiming that God made him do it.

The last car besides the predator's car beeped. The light flickered on and off, on and off. Someone was coming out. Before the cannibal could run and hide, the teacher that had looked over Cooper's detention walked out of the building, struggling to carry all the school work to grade.

He stopped dead when he saw the trail of blood and a man leaning over a bloody body. He couldn't move. His brain screamed for the body to move, but the muscles seemed to not notice and have a mind of their own. Before he knew it, the man that was towering over what looked like a boy – "Cooper," the teacher breathed, - was holding a knife to his neck and leaning in close.

"Listen," the stranger said to his face, his eyes ice cold. "Leave now. You have no business here. And if I hear anything about you going to the police about this, I'm coming to get you and your family." The man jerked back, taking his knife with him. He chuckled as he walked away. "Your daughter looks delicious, Mr. Rifaldo. You don't want that taken away from you, do you?"

Mr. Rifaldo was stunned. Why would this person know about his family? He had to get home safe and take care of his family. He had to take this threat seriously. He couldn't lose anyone; they were too special to him. He waited until the man covered in blood had walked away a couple more feet, then walked hurriedly to his car, letting the papers and books fall onto the car floor.

He turned left out of the school parking lot, even though the faster way was to turn right, the way he always went to get home. But going left meant that he could go around the police station. He didn't want this man to come kill him and his family. He took one last look in the rearview mirror and saw the bloody figure and his face staring back at him, getting smaller and smaller.

The cannibal laughed. He knew which way the teacher's house was. He knew what the teacher was doing. But he didn't care. He had his three meals for the day.

He just had to do one last thing before he left the scene: he used the spilled blood and his finger to write "DINNER" right above Cooper's "head".

It had been a good day for Mr. Cannibal.

**SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU SVU**

**If you read this, I hope you got chills. That's the effect I was going for in this one. And I hope that a ton of more questions have popped into your mind. In a way, I have answered some, and in a way, I have created some. You choose which ones are which. Reviews are much welcomed!**

**P.S. #2: I would advise not to call 'Eilma Gifford''s number because I made it up. The person on the other end of the line would probably be freaked by a call asking for Eilma, too. Just saying.**

**P.P.S. ****Also, the group the Hanging Mile is, to my knowledge, made up and purely fictional. I'm not saying that the actions of the group is fictional, but the name of the group and people involved are not real. So I doubt that you will find a group called Hanging Mile in YellowPages.**

**P.P.P.S. Happy October! I hope everyone's enjoying the new SVUs. NBC has just finished airing the 4th episode, "Merchandise". The next one is "Wet", where someone is murdering with poisonous mushrooms and Olivia accidentally inhales some of the steam from them and starts acting a bit odd. ... =o**

**-Chinagirl18**


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